Careers Job Description
General Description
The Data Collaborative for Justice (DCJ):
The Data Collaborative for Justice is a research organization launched at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 2013. The DCJ has partnered with state and local agencies in New York to publish reports on various criminal justice topics and expanded portfolio of analyses, evaluations, and partnerships around the nation. The DCJ also provides technical assistance to the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice of New York City to process administrative data for criminal justice research, including data analysis, data engineering, and data product development. This position is for the technical assistance project. The DCJ operates under the Research Foundation City University of New York (RF).
The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice:
The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) advises the Mayor of the City of New York on criminal justice policy. MOCJ develops and implements strategies to reduce crime and incarceration and to promote fairness and legitimacy. MOCJ works with law enforcement, city agencies, non-profits, foundations and others to implement data-driven strategies that address current crime conditions, prevent offending, and build strong neighborhoods that ensure enduring safety. The office draws on various disciplines, such as behavioral economics to “nudge” conduct and machine learning to develop reliable predictive analytics, to ensure effective results.
Position:
DCJ is seeking a Data Scientist to primarily assist with the technical assistance provided to MOCJ. This project provides coding and analytic support to assist MOCJ on their large-scale anti-violence and criminal justice reform efforts. Coming from a computer science perspective on assessing tradeoffs and causal inference, and working closely with the MOCJ Research team, the ideal candidate will be responsible for planning and monitoring analyses to optimize programmatic development and understand outcomes. This includes identification of data opportunities for answering key policy questions, assessing the appropriateness of a range of complex methods to assess optimization of supportive services through various techniques, including machine learning, and collaborating with other MOCJ researchers on in-house dashboards to monitor program opportunities and effectiveness.
Other Duties
Responsibilities:
The Data Scientist’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Design and implement analyses using a range of advanced data science research methods;
- Develop meaningful indicators and data experiments that are responsive to nuanced policy issues and that can be embedded into existing integrated data dashboards for ongoing analysis and performance measurement;
- Identify creative ways to make causal inferences to address large, multi-faceted policy questions while taking into account complex externalities, including complex research designs such as building control groups into real-time data tracking systems, identifying opportunities in the data for causal inference, machine learning optimization, natural or low-impact comparison groups, and creating synthetic control groups, and assess whether the conditions are sufficient for causal inference;
- Exploratory identification of opportunities for further data development and integration; and
- Design data-driven presentations and documents to translate findings to a policy audience.
Qualifications
Core Competencies:
- Ability to secure any necessary security clearances;
- Ability to monitor and evaluate the work of others, consistent with RF policies and contracts;
- Ability to communicate effectively with technical and program staff about research techniques, applications, practices, etc. important to the field of inquiry;
- Knowledge of policies regarding intellectual property, use of facilities and equipment, allocation of time and materials to project costs, and utilization of IT resources, and
- Knowledge of protocols for the safe conduct of research, including but not limited to the study of human subjects and the establishment of safety reporting procedures.
Qualifications:
The successful candidate must have a broad range of skills, but above all, they must be curious, flexible thinkers who want to learn new things and tackle challenges on a daily basis. In addition, the preferred candidate should possess the following:
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, statistics, quantitative social science (public policy, criminal justice/ criminology, sociology), or relevant discipline with a minimum of two years of experience with relevant quantitative research required;
- Or Master’s degree in computer science, statistics, quantitative social science (public policy, criminal justice/ criminology, sociology), or relevant discipline required;
- Proven ability in statistical analysis and data mining with technical expertise;
- Experience with using administrative data sets to explore complex policy questions;
- Experience with reporting and visualizing complex research products; Hands-on experience with Tableau is a plus;
- Solid knowledge of relational databases and data warehousing architecture; proficiency with SQL queries and analysis; Hands-on ETL development experience is a plus.
- Proficiency with at least one statistical programming language (R, Python);
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present data and research;
- Prior work in criminal justice or related social policy;
- Ability to balance competing priorities, complex situations, and tight deadlines;
- Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment; and
- Ability to work comfortably with a wide variety of people at different levels within the organization and with different backgrounds.
Salary: Commensurate with Experience
To Apply:
Please go to www.rfcuny.org. Under “About RF” there is a link for “Careers.” Please choose John Jay College of Criminal Justice to find the position. The required documents may include a copy of your resume, a cover letter, and three references.
For Additional Information, See:
the DCJ website https://datacollaborativeforjustice.org/ and
the MOCJ website http://www1.nyc.gov/site/criminaljustice/index.page
RFCUNY Benefits
RFCUNY Employee Benefits and AccrualsAbout the Research Foundation
The Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY) was established as a not-for-profit educational corporation chartered by the State of New York in 1963. RFCUNY supports CUNY faculty and staff in identifying and obtaining external support (pre-award) from government and private sponsors and is responsible for the administration of all such funded programs (post-award).
RFCUNY stands between CUNY’s principal investigators (PIs) and the sponsors who support them and strives to fulfill its essential responsibilities to both groups. Working closely with individual PIs and Grants Officers on the campuses, RFCUNY oversees employment, accounting, audit, reporting, purchasing, and special responsibilities that include management of a planned giving program; liaison with governmental agencies and foundations; negotiation of agreements; facility construction and renovation; protection and commercialization of intellectual property; and compliance with applicable standards in research involving human subjects, animal care, environmental and radiological safety, and conflicts of interest.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Key Features
Full Time
Depends on Qualifications
Aug 11, 2022 (Or Until Filled)